Turkey
EU-Turkey deal: statement by Nils Muižnieks
Statement by Nils Muižnieks, COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Strasbourg, 21 March 2016 – Now that the EU Turkey deal has been reached, the utmost care should be given to its implementation in order to dispel a number of serious concerns that the deal elicits from a human… »
Turkey: Academics Jailed For Signing Petition
In the latest attack on free speech in Turkey, three academics who signed a peace petition in January 2016 have been jailed by an Istanbul court on suspicion of “making terrorist propaganda,” Human Rights Watch said today. The three were jailed on March 15, 2016, pending the completion of a… »
Idomeni refugee camp, Greece: ‘Worse Than World War I’
When the leaders of 28 European states enjoy again this week their exclusive flights, luxurious suites and official limousines, to meet for a new summit in Brussels to adopt a final decision on their proposed plan of using refugees as bargaining chips, 20,000 Syrians will most probably be still starving… »
Refugee crisis 2016: 410 people drowned or missing in the Aegean
The UNHCR have published figures for the first two months of 2016, giving details of some 138,280 people who came by sea to Greece and Italy, 36% of whom are children while 410 deaths or missing people in the Aegean Sea are also reported. During this same period Frontex started… »
Turkey: Journalist Can Dündar faces life imprisonment for informing the public
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been clamping down methodically on the media in Turkey for years, first as prime minister and now as president. The persecution of journalists across the political spectrum is growing in ferocity and includes arrests, threats and intimidation – all actions unworthy of a democracy. His victims… »
Refugee crisis: People’s safety or border security?
The latest developments at a local and international level to address the refugee crisis in a successful way have triggered many concerns in those who are actively involved with the issue and also in civil society. Refugees and migrants travelling through irregular channels and unsafe passages lead to tragic results. »
‘One must be blind not to realize that Russia is defending Europe in Syria’
The threat to European interests in the Middle East comes not from Russia, but from Turkey and Saudi Arabia, says French Middle East expert Roland Lombardi. Ankara in particular has a great deal to lose, and in its desperation might try to pull NATO into a reckless military campaign against… »
Erdogan responsible for crisis in Turkey: Chomsky
Prominent US scholar Noam Chomsky has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of having double standards on terrorism after Erdoğan accused him of ignorance and sympathizing with terrorists. Hours after a bombing attack in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul that killed 11 people on Tuesday, Erdogan directed a series of… »
Once auctioned, what to do with the ‘stock’ of Syrian refugees?
A few months ago, an unprecedented “humanitarian auction” was opened in Brussels at the European Commission, shortly after watching the image of the three-year old Syrian child that the sea threw up on the Turkish shores. The “auction” was about deciding upon the number of Syrian refugees to be hosted… »
Turkish journalists protests detention of prominent editors
Journalists in Turkey have staged a protest rally in the capital, Ankara, to denounce the arrest and detention of two prominent editors. Protesters marking the Working Journalists’ Day on Sunday held banners and chanted slogans during the demonstration in support of jailed journalists Can Dundar and Erdem Gul. Dundar and… »